Trump says US has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran in ‘very successful attack’

Iran has threatened to use all force needed to defend itself after United States President Donald Trump ordered American aircraft to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites in what he called a “spectacular military success” and historic moment for the world.

Global leaders feared Trump’s major intervention in the conflict would further destabilise the Middle East as the president warned Iran must make peace or face further attack. The Iranian foreign ministry accused the US of criminal aggression and urged the United Nations to respond.

President Donald Trump speaks about the operation from the East Room of the White House in Washington.Credit: AP

Trump spoke from the White House late on Saturday night (Sunday midday, AEST) to confirm the US military had carried out precision strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities – the uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, as well as sites in Natanz and Isfahan – in an operation “the world has not seen in many, many decades”.

“Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said. “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”

The world had been on edge as it waited to see whether Trump would enter the conflict, which began when Israel struck Iran on June 13. The president said on Friday he would decide within a fortnight whether the US would help Israel’s war effort with “bunker-busting” bombs targeting Iran’s heavily protected sites. Two days later, he took action.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump, saying: “Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”

But Trump’s intervention has split politicians in the United States and sparked debate over his authority to launch the strikes, while raising fears among world leaders that the regional war could spiral into a broader confrontation involving global powers.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the US, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, had violated international law. “The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,” he wrote on X. “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interests, and people.”

In a separate statement, Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs said: “The warmongering and lawless regime of the United States of America is held fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of this egregious act of aggression and heinous crime.”

It called for the UN Security Council to convene an emergency session. “Silence in the face of such blatant aggression would plunge the world into an unprecedented level of danger and chaos.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres earlier that day said he was “gravely alarmed” by the US strikes. “This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security,” he wrote on X.

“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”

Iranian missiles hit northern and central Israel on Sunday. Six people in one location were taken to hospital.

US deploys ‘bunker busters’ after days of mixed signals

Trump said the United States had worked as a team with Israel “like perhaps no team has ever worked before” as he claimed Iran had been “the world’s number one state sponsor of terror”.

“For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel. They’ve been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs, that was their specialty... I decided a long time ago I would not let this happen. It will not continue,” he said.

President Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.Credit: AP

“There will be peace or tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.

“But if peace does not come quickly, we’ll go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close.”

Trump first revealed the operation on his social media website, Truth Social, two hours before the broadcast. “A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home,” he wrote.

His confirmation came after news reports earlier on Saturday said several B-2 stealth bombers had taken off from the US, indicating the Trump administration was positioning them to be ready.

Speculation about a potential US strike aimed at Iran’s nuclear program had focused on its B-2s, which were to drop 30,000-pound bombs – so-called bunker busters – on Iran’s uranium enrichment site at Fordow, which is buried deep underground. Israel, which is seeking to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, does not have a bunker-busting bomb with sufficient capability.

The American strike saw six B-2s drop a dozen bunker-buster bombs on Fordow, one B-2 drop two bombs on the Natanz facility, while US submarines fired 30 cruise missiles at the Natanz and Isfahan sites, The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed US official.

A satellite image of the Fordow facility in Iran.Credit: DigitalGlobe via Getty Images

Brett McGurk, the National Security Council co-ordinator for the Middle East under former US president Joe Biden, said the operation had been planned and rehearsed over many years and several presidencies “with the hope that it will never have to be used”.

“Now, tonight, it has been used,” he said on CNN. “Whatever choice Iran makes next will be very important.”

Intervention sparks debate

Defence Minister Richard Marles, speaking before the strikes on Sunday, said there were 2600 Australians in Iran and 1200 in Israel who wanted to leave, but evacuations via Australian aircraft positioned in the region remained impossible.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made no public comment on the US intervention and his office instead provided a statement from a government spokesperson that said Iran’s nuclear program was a threat to international security.

“We note the US president’s statement that now is the time for peace. The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy,” the statement said.

The Coalition took a stronger stance and backed US action to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. ”The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iranian regime, and today the United States military has taken proactive action to ensure that we never need to,” Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said in a statement.

“While Australians will never seek conflict in the world, we can never forget that the Iranian regime is a militantly theocratic autocracy... The Coalition stands with the United States of America today.”

The Greens, on the other hand, said Australia and the international community had failed to put in place “any red lines” for Trump and Netanyahu, whom they accused of acting illegally.

“The practical actions here are to start distancing ourselves from Donald Trump and his increasingly erratic and violent approach to the world,” said Senator David Shoebridge.

Trump’s decision also split US politicians, including Republicans, who have disagreed over whether the US should embroil itself in the foreign conflict. Top Republicans were supportive, including Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives.

“The president’s decisive action prevents the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, which chants ‘death to America’, from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet. This is America First policy in action,” Johnson said in a statement.

But Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, said on X: “Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war … This is not our fight.”

Democrats and a few Republicans said the strikes were unconstitutional and demanded more information in a classified setting. “Only Congress can declare war,” said Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. “The Senate must vote immediately to prevent another endless war.”

with Bloomberg, AP

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